Three-day weekend

This weekend was a long one for those of us who live in Britain as Monday was a public holiday. On Saturday, we walked from Farringdon over Blackfriar's Bridge, along the South Bank in the glorious sunshine, and to the National Theatre complex, where Little Planet enjoyed clambering over the giant-sized AstroTurf three-piece suite.

We stopped for blueberry muffins and coffee in Benugo in the BFI, where Little Planet enjoyed clambering over the sofas. She is climbing over everything nowadays and is constantly on the move. We crossed the Thames at Embankment and walked through Trafalgar Square. By this time it was 11.30am and Little Planet had fallen asleep.

From Arigato in Soho we bought pickled umeboshi plums, fresh shiso leaves and yuzu concentrate. We picked up wine from Oddbins on Wardour Street, passionfruit cheesecake and strawberry flan from Princi, Kiehl's products from Liberty whose facade we noticed had been covered with floral Liberty print wallpaper. We then went to The Photographers' Gallery to see André Kertész's utterly absorbing photos of people reading (photo top). And then home.

At Princi we had also picked up some ham and cheese quiche and some green olive bread sticks, so back at home we ate these for lunch along with a spinach and rocket salad. Then we read in the garden and played with Little Planet in her Wendy house and tunnel. M did some DIY in our bathroom. After Little Planet went to bed, M grilled some mackerel and served it with wilted fresh spinach with a black sesame seed dressing.

On Sunday, M went to my mum's house to collect boxes of my books. I stayed at home with Little Planet. We played in the garden - in her tunnel and Wendy house. I also took her shopping to our local butchers (pork belly ribs) and greengrocers (five big bunches of spinach). My mum came back with M and then spent the rest of the day with us - playing with Little Planet and chatting with me while M worked upstairs in the study.

After Little Planet's bedtime, we dined on roasted pork belly ribs with macaroni cheese and wilted spinach with loads of garlic. Dessert was Cornish vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. We then ended the night watching episodes from the first season of The Office (original UK version), which they were showing on TV. So funny, so droll. Brilliant!

Monday began with a hoover and clean of the house then out to the shops with Little Planet. I left M and Little Planet and took the bus into central London. I usually take the Tube as it's faster, but this morning I relished the chance to sit down at leisure and relax into a longer journey, free to think about anything or nothing, with no interruptions or distractions.

I ate lunch at Abeno near the British Museum. I had pork om-soba (fried soba noodles wrapped in a light omelette and decorated with Japaneses mayo, ketchup and okonomiyaki sauce). I also had agedashi tofu with bonito fish flakes and grated ginger. All this eating to a fantastic 1970s soundtrack of Talking Heads and David Bowie. Abeno has very good taste in music!

I walked through Soho and picked up some organic soya sauce, black and white roasted sesame seeds, firm tofu and a bag of kimchi from Arigato - all ingredients needed for a variety of dinners we will make this week for ourselves. I picked up a US parenting magazine (Parents) from Borders. And then I watched the movie Moon at the cinema on Panton Street. The movie is directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones and stars Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey. It was superlative: visually arresting and emotionally taut. An existential tour de force that I would love to see again.

I came home to Little Planet and M playing in the garden. M had managed to have a client conference call during her afternoon nap (he had arranged the call to coincide with her usual nap time; otherwise I would have stayed at home to look after her). He'd also done some cleaning (the bathroom) and baked some bread (wholemeal rye bread plus pizza bases). After Little Planet's bedtime, M made pizzas for our dinner - anchovies, mozzarella, freshly made tomato sauce and basil from our garden.

As much as I enjoy my work, I am sad that the long weekend is over.

Malaysian beef rendang

I cooked beef rendang on Sunday and we ate it for dinner the next night. Like all curries, the rendang really benefited from having "rested" for a day before eating as the flavours were particularly intense.

Serves 2-4 (depending on appetite and number of other courses!)

Process the following ingredients in a food processor:

• 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2.5 inches ginger, coarsely chopped
• 1 stick of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
• 8 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric
• 0.5 teaspoon coriander powder
• 0.5 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons of red chilli flakes or 3 red chillies, diced

Then add this spice mixture to a heavy bottomed saucepan and fry. After a few minutes add:
1.5lb diced stewing steak

Fry until the meat is lightly browned and coated with the spice mixture then stir in the following:

• Grated flesh of half a coconut
• 165ml coconut milk
• A little water so mixture does not dry during simmering
• Salt to taste

Bring the mixture to the boil then simmer for 1.5-2 hours on low. Serve with rice.

Sorry, no photos. I need to get back into taking photos of anything other than my daughter ;-)

Busy doing nothing

This is perhaps the shortest weekend post I've ever written, for all we did this weekend was buy fruit, vegetables, fish and meat from our local grocer, butcher and fishmonger; make bread; visit the park; roast a chicken; bake some sea bream; make a chocolate raspberry clafoutis; cook beef rendang; and spend alot of time reading and playing in the garden. We didn't even clean the house! The weather here in London was superb and we simply wanted to enjoy a chilled two days at home. Wonderful.

Delicious

It's been a long time since I've recorded a recipe on this blog. Last night, I cooked two dishes for our dinner. One was a sour aubergine and tomato curry and the other was a simple lightly-spiced cauliflower dish.

For the cauliflower curry, I gently fried half an onion with 1 inch of fresh ginger (finely diced) and 3 cloves of garlic (diced). When the onions were golden, I added 1 teaspoon of black onion seeds, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, a pinch of red chilli flakes and half a teaspoon of ground turmeric. I gently fried the mixture on a low heat for a few minutes and then added the florets of a whole cauliflower. I ensured all the ingredients were well mixed, then added half a cup of water. I brought the dish to a boil then turned down the heat to a simmer, with lid on, for 15-20 minutes. Salt to taste, of course.

For the soured aubergines and tomatoes, I had already roasted the vegetables on Sunday and left in the fridge - five aubergines and three large tomatoes. Tonight, I roughly chopped the mixture and left to drain in a colander. Then I fried half an onion with an inch of finely chopped ginger and 4 diced cloves of garlic. Once the onion mixture had turned golden, I added a teaspoon each of fennel seeds, ground ginger, whole cumin, turmeric and red chilli flakes, plus a generous pinch of asafoetida. I stirred the mixture well and fried for a few minutes. Then I added the aubergines and tomatoes and cooked the mixture for a good 15 minutes, letting all the flavours infuse. I added a little water so the mixture did not stick. Finally, I added 2 teaspoons of tamarind paste and left to cook for a further. Salt to taste.

It was all very tasty (as a Leo, modesty is not my strong point!).

Eating, teething and pruning

Since she was born, we've settled Little Planet into a conventional 7am-7pm routine because it suits us. M and I are both early birds. Even before our daughter was born, morning lie ins rarely went beyond 9am, no matter how late we went to bed. We also have to get up at 6.30am every week day for work, so 7pm bedtimes are a must for Little Planet if she is to get a good quota of night time sleep for her age.

People often remark on how much M and I manage to pack into a day, but aside from personality, much of it is to do with the fact that we start our day so early! So making a hair appointment for 9am on a Saturday morning isn't unusual for me, especially now I am a mother. To Aveda in Holborn I went and spent two hours being pampered whilst M and Little Planet relaxed at home.

Afterwards, I picked up two bags of whole beans - Indonesian and Indian - from the Monmouth Coffee Company in Covent Garden, and soap and a black top from Muji. Then I caught a bite of lunch at the Portuguese-Brazilian cafe Canela off the Seven Dials. I had an oven-baked dish of salt cod cooked with potatoes, onions, herbs and cream and accompanied by a leaf salad with a simple citrus dressing. My drink was a freshly squeezed lemonade and my dessert, of course, was a Brazilian creme caramel.

Then I detoured north to John Lewis on Oxford Street to pick up a plastic dinner set for Little Planet decorated with pirates and pirate ships (a plate, a bowl and a cup) then walked south down Regent's Street to Piccadilly where I bought Gourmet, New Yorker and Time Out New York magazines from Waterstone's. This is forward planning for our holiday to NYC in the Autumn - just getting a feel for the things we want to do and the places we want to see.

Back at home, I played with M and Little Planet in the garden. After her bed time, M and I ate roast chicken and steamed broccoli for dinner.

On Sunday, my mum came early to our house to play with Little Planet. Then I took my mum out for the day into Central London. It was my parents' wedding anniversary on Saturday. My father is ill and has been in a care home back in East Anglia for the last year. I've not really written about this on my blog because it has been a painful experience for all, but we are all getting used to it now. Now that my mother has moved to London to be nearer her granddaughter, she is in the process of transferring my father down to a care home near her new house. It means that we should be able to celebrate Christmas together as a complete family again. It means my parents will be able to celebrate their wedding anniversary next year together. But this year, my mum was alone in London and so I wanted to make sure she wasn't too sad and lonely.

I treated her to a cab ride into town where we spent a few hours wandering around the Indian garden, the South-east Asian room and the Garden And Cosmos exhibition at the British Museum (photo above). Then we went for lunch at South Indian restaurant Malabar Junction. My favourite South Indian restaurant is any of the Rasa restaurants, but I like the laid back, genteel, old-fashioned atmosphere of Malabar. It's not trying to be trendy and it suits my mother's personality perfectly.

We started with parippu vada (split Bengal gram mashed with red chilli, curry leaves, ginger and onions and made into patties) and aubergine slice fry (with chickpea batter). Then we had mains of Kerala mutton curry (lamb pieces cooked with turmeric, coriander, chillies and black pepper), meen manga puli (white fish with green mango cooked with fenugreek, onions, tamarind, curry leaves and coconut milk), and Malabar kichadi (beetroot with curry leaves and grated coconut).

Back at home, my mum enjoyed playing with Little Planet for the rest of the afternoon in the garden. After Little Planet had gone to bed and my mother had returned home, M cooked us macaroni cheese with bacon and spinach. Dessert was homemade apple flan. No, I did not refuse dinner; yes, I am a glutton.

Poor Little Planet had an incredibly restless night last night due to intense nappy rash brought on by teething her molars. She woke up every two hours. She's always been such a good sleeper since her 12th week... we can count on one hand, in fact, the number of restless nights she has had in her 14 months. So last night was difficult for her and for us. We didn't really know what to do but we finally managed to settle her at 2am with lots of cuddles and a little bit of Calpol. She fell fast asleep eventually, but of course, M and I slept fitfully until morning as we kept waiting for her to wake up again. I hope tonight is a better night for her.

Today, M had the day off to oversee some tree pruning work. We have two very tall and overgrown trees at the back of our garden which, apparently, are obstructing one of our neighbour's satellite reception. We chortled when we heard this, but in fairness it must be annoying for them and the trees are too big. So today the tree surgeons were very busy. M was busy also: we have four bookshelves in our living room but more books mean we needed more shelf space. So we ordered two more bookshelves and M put them up today while the tree surgeons were at work: one more in our living room and another on our upstairs landing. My favourite form of interior decoration is books, books and more books, so I love the way our home looks and feels now.

Random notes from the week

• For Monday night's dinner, I made a cauliflower dish spiced with onion seeds, red chilli flakes, cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, onions and turmeric. I also made a lamb curry with sweet potatoes, peas (leftover from Little Planet's dinner!), chickpeas, onion, garlic, ginger, red chilli flakes, ground cumin, ground coriander and turmeric.
  
  
• Little Planet is flat out refusing to be spoon fed now. She also resists us handing her food. All her food is now finger food that she can pick up by herself from her high-chair tray or plate - little sandwiches, cheese sticks, toast, pitta bread with hummus, pasta shells with a coating of sauce such as pesto, broccoli florets, slices of peaches, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, dry cereal, peas, sweetcorn, omelette strips or scrambled eggs - anything she can pick up herself, basically. She is our independent little girl; but it could also be related to teething. Who knows? I've been a mum for 14 months and I've finally learned that there is little point in analysing her behaviour too much as everything is a phase.
  
  
• Little Planet is also adamant that walking on her knees is infinitely preferable to walking on her two feet. She doesn't seem to mind that she looks a "right Charlie" swinging her arms and stomping around on her knees. She even prefers it to crawling now. And she is forever climbing onto and over things, over and over again. She loves our bed - particularly clambering over the pillows so she is standing up against the headboard and then diving face first flat onto the bed again... over and over and over again.
  
  
• Little Planet is so dexterous with her hands. She can screw open and close plastic bottles of water, she will eat rice grain by grain, she will pick up the tiniest thread or speck off the floor, she will put the lids back on her bottles of milk when she's finished drinking, she can place wooden sticks precisely into narrow holes... endless things she can do with her tiny fingers and hands.
  
  
• On Tuesday morning, M and I breakfasted at Carluccio's in the Brunswick in Bloomsbury before work - M had toast and croissants with butter and jam and I had the eggs Benedict.
  
  
• On Tuesday night, M left work much earlier than his usual time to put Little Planet to bed so that I could go out and entertain my clients. I took them to the Mortimer's Grill just off Oxford Street in "Noho" - good food (handcut chips and sausages), good beer (Italian) and good conversation (travel, religion, psychology, art... not the type of conversations I usually have with clients; these are very interesting people and I enjoy doing business with them).
  
  
• On the bus home, at around 9pm, there was a Chinese baby screaming his head off. Several people on the bus didn't hide their displeasure at this (as a mum, I just tuned it out). But then his parents started to play him some Chinese pop music on their mobile phone. The baby instantly fell silent. Very few people on the bus could keep a straight face. It was just too cute.
  
  
• On Wednesday, I had lunch with a few other new(-ish) mums at work. Our babies are all over 12 months now and it's funny how the topic of conversation has shifted away from baby sleeping patterns to baby feeding habits. Soon it will be all about tantrums and toilet training, I suspect.
  
  
• Other key topics of conversation amongst us new mums at my work were how we manage our daily routines (working, spending time with our babies, looking after our homes) and how we can be promoted whilst working part-time (not a key issue for me as I work full-time, but a real concern for the other mums I work with who all work part-time).
  
  
• On Thursday, my mother-in-law put Little Planet to bed so M and I could meet up after work. The two of us walked down to the National Portrait Gallery to see two excellent exhibitions: the BP Portrait Award and Francis Alys' Fabiola (photo above). Then we took a cab to Mayfair and had cocktails in Claridges and then a top notch (though a tad salty for me) dinner at Indian restaurant Benares where the fish dishes in particular were superlative . This was a belated celebratory meal to mark my birthday on the 3rd August. The cocktails were strong, the food very nice and the cab ride home much needed. Thank you M for the lovely evening.
  
  
• And now it's Friday - yippee! Despite all the socialising and going out I've been doing this week, I've been very busy at work with endless meetings and project kick-offs. Tonight I have quite bad indigestion because I was rushing around so much today and bolting down my food. But it's 7.20pm now, I've put Little Planet to bed and M is on his way home with some nice food goodies for our dinner no doubt.

Lazing around

We did little this weekend, apart from lazing around all day long. On Saturday, we breakfasted at Carluccio's at the Brunswick and then played with Little Planet in the children's park near Russell Square Coram's Fields. We shopped at Waitrose and then spent the afternoon at home, playing in the house and the garden with Little Planet. Her Gran also arrived. Dinner was rib eye steak and salad.

On Sunday, M, Little Planet and her Gran went off to the park for the morning leaving me blissfully home alone for a few hours: I sat in the garden and read the papers from cover to cover. It was so quiet; it was wonderful. My mum arrived in the afternoon and the two Grans played with their granddaughter in the garden while M and I pottered around doing things around the house. We also booked our holilday to New York in October - hurrah! Dinner was oven-baked sea bream and salad.

And that was it. Today, M and I returned to work, and tried to ease back into our familiar routine, though it is terribly hard having to get up at 6.30am again.

A week off, part 2

M spent Wednesday shopping in central London. He went to Liberty, Jil Sander, Foyles, House of Fraser and the Sony Centre on Tottenham Court Road where he bought me a small Sony Bravia TV for our bedroom as a birthday gift. He lunched at So Sushi in Soho.

Meanwhile, Little Planet and I spent the day with my mum - first at her house and then at mine. For dinner that evening, I made Goan king prawn curry with cumin and coriander powders, turmeric, garlic, ginger, shallots, green cardamoms, red chillies, coconut milk and tamarind paste. It was tangy, sharp and hot - just as I like it.

Thursday began with bacon butties and then we went to the local council offices to replenish our stash of parking permits. We went to the park where Little Planet played in the swings and the sandpit. Then I went alone into central London while M looked after Little Planet for the day.

After the park, M took her to the local shops and then home for lunch. He spent the afternoon playing with her, sorting out the study, made sourdough bread and New York-style mini cheesecakes, plus beef stew with potatoes and green beans for Little Planet.

I went to the Brunswick at Russell Square, where I sat outside at Carluccio's and lunched on pork escalope wrapped in Parma ham and sage and served with sauteed potatoes and garlicky spinach, plus freshly-squeezed lemonade. I was in no hurry and my lunch was long as I also enjoyed people-watching - lots of parents (mainly mums) and their babies, toddlers and children at the Brunswick.

I popped into Gap Kids for red, grey, navy and dark brown little socks for Little P, then headed down into the Renoir Cinema to watch Claire Denis' latest 35 Shots Of Rum (photo above). The film depicts the close bond between a train-driving widower and his adolescent daughter living in a rundown suburb of Paris - a bond that is complicated by the affection and attraction of two neighbours: a young man for the girl and a middle aged woman for the father. The movie is beautiful and subtle and I'd love to see it again.

I walked over to Oxford Street to buy footwear from Office (Havaianas flip flops, Converse sneakers and Keds sneakers) and blouses and wool cardigans from Gap. Then it started to pour down with rain. I returned home in time for Little Planet's bath and bedtime. For dinner, M made Maryland crab cakes with spring onions from our garden. He also made some tartare sauce to go with the crab cakes. Dessert was his delicious cheesecakes.

And today, Friday, is technically the last day of our week off. We spent the morning getting Little Planet's hair cut - her third. The first two times she had her hair cut, she was perfectly calm. But this time, she was a little more nervous and had to be distracted a lot more. It's definitely her age: she's a lot more aware and can anticipate things now, and she's also a lot more assertive.

Her assertiveness and growing independence is now showing itself in her eating. The past two days she has resolutely refused to be spoon fed - clamping her teeth shut tightly, shaking her head, and raging "Na! Na! Na!" Poor M made her beef stew yesterday but because it is a little sloppy, it can only be eaten with a spoon - which Little Planet cannot do for herself yet and so can only be spoon fed. Ditto her cauliflower and cheese dinner tonight. But as soon as we gave her plates of toast with Philadelphia cheese, sliced peaches and little chunks of cheese that she could feed entirely by herself... well, then she ate everything. It's frustrating for us as parents, but on the other hand this is terrific in terms of her development.

Anyway, we did a bit of shopping after her haircut while she napped in her buggy and then came home. We spent the rest of the afternoon thoroughly cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, hoovering and dusting the entire house, and M changed some of our curtain rails and re-hung the curtains. I also had a work conference call with my French client for an hour.

Little Planet is asleep now (it's 7.30pm) and there's sea bream in the oven which M will serve with a samphire and asparagus salad. Then fresh papaya, blueberries, peaches and oranges for dessert.

I am sad our week at home is over - it's been very relaxing. Never, in our entire adult lives, have we ever taken holiday and stayed at home - a "stay-cation". M and I are going to New York later this year, but this time we wanted to chill out with our daughter and enjoy home and enjoy London a) because we both work long hours and needed full-on quality time as a family and b) because we've both travelled quite a bit for work this year and simply didn't fancy it.

By the way, Little Planet turned 14 months today xxx

A week off, part 1

Both M and I have taken a week off this week to do nothing but chill out together as a family at or close to home. Our week began on Saturday with a trip to the Jeff Koons exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. From his paintings of Popeye and Olive Oyl, to his inflatable toy sculptures cast in aluminium (photo above) - I found the work banal, kitsch, fun and interesting.

Afterwards, we let Little Planet loose in the ethereal, mirrored Pavilion, where she enjoyed watching the other children and looking at her own reflection. She chats to and laughs at her reflection in the mirror at home and the other night when she was crying out in anger over something or the other, she crawled around M to look at herself in the mirror as she was howling! Nowadays, she loves flicking through our album of her photos and also laughs when she recognises her two Grans in the photos.

The three of us relaxed in Hyde Park for a while and then we wandered over to the Whole Foods Market in Kensington to stock up on cheeses, wine, steak and cold meats. We spent the afternoon in our garden at home, then after Little Planet had gone to bed, we sat down to a meal of aged fillet steaks and a salad with sesame seed dressing.

Sunday morning was spent outside in our garden, where Little Planet played, I read and played, and M planted beds and pruned shrubs. Little Planet enjoyed helping her daddy weed, particularly putting the weeds into the bucket. She will be her daddy's good little helper as she gets older, just as I always loved helping my dad in the garden when I was a child.

Sunday afternoon was spent playing with Little Planet in the sandpit of our local park. Dinner for M and I was boiled chicken with leeks and homemade aioli plus lightly stir-fried endives with blue cheese shavings.

Monday was my birthday and so, for me, began with a long lie in! Later, my mum arrived and took us all out for a big Turkish lunch. Little Planet ate pitta dipped with hummus and was completely preoccupied watching all the waiters whizz by, while the adults tucked into pizza-like pide, hearty minced lamb kebabs and three varieties of salad.

We spent the rest of the day at home, playing with Little Planet and laughing at her antics: she can't stop walking, or more correctly marching, around the house just on her two little knees - it's hilarious! And she chatters non-stop to us and to herself. In the evening, after her bedtime, we ate risotto with peas and mint fresh from our own garden. Dessert was the birthday cake my mum had bought for me.

Today we went into central London again. We visited the Korean Cultural Centre near Charing Cross, which we have always been meaning to visit. Our daughter looks like a little Manga doll and predictably she caused a little stir there among the staff. Lots of Asians from the Far East find her cartoonishly cute with her short dark fringe, her big eyes, her long lashes, her rosebud lips and her pale skin.

Then we crossed the river to the Hayward Gallery where we wandered through the Walking in My Mind exhibition that explores the inner workings of artists' imaginations through dramatic, large-scale installation art. We peered into Yoshimoto Nara's art hut and gazed, voyeuristically, at his Dylan music collection, his reference books, his Polaroids and his sketches (Little Planet went "Quack quack" when she spied a toy duck on one of his shelves); we wandered through Thomas Hirschhorn's womb-like cave and tunnels made of parcel tape; we let Little Planet loose into the hallucinogenic pink and white polka dot room of Yayoi Kusama (photo above); and we meandered dreamily through the spectral tunnels of stretched black threads by Chiharu Shiota (photo below). The whole exhibition was hypnotic and we will return very soon no doubt.

We relaxed with coffees and cakes at the BFI's Benugo bar and cafe. I've always loved this place because it has so many comfy, soft sofas and armchairs and never seems too busy. To begin with, Little Planet got very excited clambering across the sofa we were sat on and staring and babbling at the other people there, but then she sank back into it like us and settled in to happily munch away at her blueberry and raspberry rice cake.

Little Planet fell asleep in her buggy as we headed back towards Leicester Square and M took her home for her lunch. I stayed on in town and lunched alone at Mitsukoshi on Regent's Street. I had the Mitsukoshi bento box, which consisted of tuna and salmon sashimi, a simmered vegetable dish, mixed tempura, rice, miso soup, pickles and mixed fruit. The place was packed entirely with Japanese people. This is fast becoming my favourite Japanese place to lunch at. As I was eating I was also working my way through work emails on my iPhone. Then I bought two Japanese movies from the basement JP Books - Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers and Memories Of Matsuko.

Afterwards, I watched the funny and cringe-worthy Bruno movie at the Apollo, then headed to Covent Garden to pick up some wine from Oddbins and some coffee beans from the Monmouth Coffee Company. Then back to home, where M and Little Planet had spent a nice afternoon together pottering (M sorting out the study and cooking berry clafoutis; Little Planet doing what she does best - playing and clambering all over her dad).

And now she is in bed and M is making pies with chicken, porcini mushrooms, bacon and sage and thyme leaves from our garden.

Tomorrow M will spend the day generally pottering around the house and then, perhaps, seeing some exhibitions and doing some shopping in central London. I will spend the day with my daughter and my mum. But I'll leave the next portion of our week off for another post (and my Twitter feed).